Insurer tells injured police man: you can be a librarian. 250 job applications later he’s jobless

By Nick Jordan| 3 years ago

A former policeman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) claims he was ruled fit to work by his health insurer and told to look for jobs as a librarian. Two-hundred and fifty applications later and he still hasn't found work.

"After being medically discharged I wasn’t prepared for what came next but what came next was worse than the initial injury," Watts told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The former cop had his claim for total and permanent disablement with NSW Police insurer Metlife rejected, and was instead recommended to seek work in a clerical role, as a librarian, a private investigator or a security consultant.

"I applied for nearly 250 jobs and it is impossible to get a job", the 47-year-old said. He has no qualifications outside his police work, making applications for the jobs he was recommended extremely difficult. "I could apply to be a brain surgeon, but who is going to take me on. They don't market test or speak to employment agencies and say ‘would you take this person on?'", he told the newspaper.

"They send you to cash for comment doctors who make reports on you who say you can be a librarian."

Watts claimed he spent half an hour being examined by Metlife Insurance doctors while the opinions of the doctors he’d been seeing for 10 years were ignored.

Watts was discharged from the police force after he admitted to suffering from severe anxiety and traumatic flashbacks.

"I'd walk into work and I'd be perspiring and my heart would be pounding at massive rates. I started having high blood pressure", he told the newspaper. "I knew I wasn't well. I realised if I put my hand up and said I'm not well that would be the end of my career so I tried struggle on."

Mr Watts claimed it took nearly four years for Metlife to reject his claim, during which time he and his family were put under surveillance.

"They were filming my children, photographing me out with friends. It made my hyper-vigilance way worse. It made me way worse and way more worried. It compounded the whole issue," Watts said.

A spokeswoman for the insurance company told the Sydney Morning Herald surveillance is no longer used and in previous cases it was only employed when there’s inconsistencies in the information received within the claim. The spokeswoman was unable to comment on Watts’ case, due to the company’s privacy policies.